Tinker Bell is lonely. The fairy queen of Neverland has lost all her fairy friends because more and more children stopped believing in them. So, she heads to London where she finds Peter Pan, a boy who vows never to grow up, and takes him back to Neverland, where they share adventures with Wendy and the Lost Boys.
True North Theatre’s production of “Tinker Bell” at the Cyrus Pavilion at the University of Maine is an hourlong romp that delighted adults and children at Sunday’s matinee. It is interactive, with cast members speaking to the audience and theatergoers answering back while the fairy dust flows freely.
This show, written for a children’s theater company, is a departure for True North. While it produces a show each January, the company performed dramas — “The Children’s Hour” and “Picnic” — the past two years and comedies, “Sylvia” in 2023 and “The Odd Couple” in 2020.
This is also the first time True North has offered a show on a pay-what-you-wish basis for all performances. Proceeds will be split with the Orono Public Library.
J.M. Barrie introduced the boy who would never grow up in his 1902 novel, “The Little White Bird.” Two years later, the first production of his play, “Peter Pan,” was performed in London. Barrie penned the novel, “Peter and Wendy,” in 1911 and in 1954 the Broadway musical starring Mary Martin charmed audiences and was broadcast on television.
“Tinker Bell” premiered in 2018 at Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo, Maryland. Playwright Patrick Flynn, who is based in Washington, D.C., has said that he wanted to tell the story from Tinker Bell’s point of view since she is only seen as a ball of light in productions of Barrie’s play and the musical.
Director D. Granke, assistant professor of theater at UMaine, keeps the action moving so that even the youngest theatergoers won’t get bored. Granke, who directed “Picnic” for True North, assembled a fine ensemble that finds all the joy in this classic story told with a new twist.
As Tinker Bell, Arden Hale is delightfully charming, even when the fairy grows frustrated with Peter’s antics and his demands that she help him find a mother. Hale, sporting lovely gossamer-looking wings, flits around the set of a child’s bedroom effortlessly. The actor, who recently moved to Maine from Louisiana, beautifully captures the wonders and frustrations of childhood.
Gracie Farrar, a senior theater major, portrays Peter as an adventurous boy used to getting his own way and winning every battle. She works well with Hale as the two squabble like middle schoolers.
Farrar has been involved with almost every theater group in Greater Bangor, including two previous productions with True North. That ensemble work serves her well in this show.
Jared Roxby and Tellis Coolong as Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, respectively, are bickering, bumbling buddies. Their patter is fun and while they plot to rid themselves of Peter and his cadre of boys, neither is frightening. They are the dynamic duo of pirates.
Wendy plays a lesser role in this play than in others, but Aliza Dwyer, who directs the after-school theater program at Ellsworth Middle School, is charming in the role. She is especially good at talking directly to the audience.
Maggie Olesniewicz and Adrian Sockalexis operate several puppets, including the hungry crocodile who is obsessed with Hook and whose bite gave the pirate his moniker. The adults and kids at Sunday’s show found them – the puppets and the puppeteers – enchanting.
The technical team is top-notch with scenic design by Tricia A. Hobbs, lighting by Scout Hough and costumes by Melissa Egolf.
With “Tinker Bell,” True North beautifully shows why this story, now more than 120 years old, still charms theatergoers of all ages.
True North Theatre’s production of “Tinker Bell” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Cyrus Pavilion at the University of Maine. Reservations are recommended for matinees at linktree.com/TrueNorthTheatre.
